The former Colorado Avalanche forward filed the suit against Bertuzzi last February in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking damages and lost wages. The suit came two years after Bertuzzi, then with the Vancouver Canucks, punched Moore from behind and drove the Avalanche forward onto the ice. Moore suffered three broken vertebrae, a concussion and other injuries.

Sources say legal representatives for Moore, who has not played since the March 8, 2004 game, and Bertuzzi, now a member of the Florida Panthers, requested the meeting with Bettman. The NHL and a Bertuzzi representative had no comment on the matter. Moore's lawyer, Tim Danson, did not immediately return calls for comment.

In filing the civil suit, Danson, alleged the Bertuzzi attack was payback for Moore's hit on Canuck captain Markus Naslund a month earlier. Bertuzzi was suspended for the final 13 games of the regular season, plus the playoffs leading into a lockout that wiped out the entire 2003-2004 season. Bertuzzi was charged by Vancouver police and pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.